ATHENS—Greek banks have enough liquidity to get through to at
least Monday, the head of the Hellenic Bank Association Louka
Katseli said Thursday.
Greece shut down its banking system late last month to prevent
them from collapse and will keep lenders closed until Monday as
bailout talks with the country's creditors continue. Greek
authorities have imposed a daily withdrawal limit of €60 a day from
cash machines, to prevent the banks from running out of money.
"The Bank of Greece, which sees the broader picture with
liquidity, gave us the green light last night to keep these
outflows until Monday night," Ms. Katseli told Greek television
station Mega. Ms. Katseli is also chairwoman of National Bank of
Greece, the country's biggest lender.
"There is liquidity to cover the system until July 13," she
said.
Ms. Katseli also played down concerns that Greek depositors may
lose some of their money in a so-called haircut, should the banks
require capital.
"At the moment there is no issue of a haircut on the table," she
said.
"The sooner the banking system starts operating normally, the
smaller the chance of any type of haircut. The issue of a haircut
is related to the solvency of the banks," she added.
Greek banks are under pressure because depositors have been
withdrawing funds amid concerns about the country's financial
health and the lenders can't borrow from international markets.
As such, the banks have been reliant on the European Central
Bank's emergency lending program for funding. However, the ECB
decided on June 28 to freeze such funds, which prompted the
shutdown of the banks.
ECB governing council member Jens Weidmann on Thursday said the
central bank should continue to freeze emergency loans to Greece
and capital controls should stay in place until the embattled
country can reach a deal with its international creditors.
Mr. Weidmann's remarks come a day after Greece requested a new
three-year bailout from its eurozone creditors and pledged some
economic overhauls.
Write to Stelios Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com
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